


Saturn

by loveiscosmicsin



Category: FF15, FFXV - Fandom, Final Fantasy 15, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Coffee Shop, Definitely was there all along, Established Relationship, FFXV Spoilers, IgNoct, M/M, Post-Game, Resolution, Spirtual experience? Maybe, star-crossed lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 18:33:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10702713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveiscosmicsin/pseuds/loveiscosmicsin
Summary: Ignis gets an unexpected visitor at his coffeehouse, one he thought would never see again. FFXV Spoilers.





	Saturn

**Author's Note:**

> Played with my imagination until the imagination played me. Debated between post-game IgNoct with constant reminders of what would never be or old and mature IgNoct where a full life was led. Post-game it is but seriously, I have a need for older IgNocts where they’re married, have adopted kids after World of Ruin, and living happily in their own set of adventures not just in the palace, growing old together. FFXV spoilers. I disagree with most of World of Ruin and that unsatisfactory ending.

 

 

 

 

[“I can’t lose you. Because if I ever did, I’d have lost my best friend, my soul mate, my smile, my laugh, my everything.”](https://incandescent-liberator.tumblr.com/post/159157154966/loveiscosmicsin-without-him-im-nothing)

-

_I couldn’t help but ask_  
 _For you to say it all again._  
 _I tried to write it down_  
 _But I could never find a pen._  
 _I’d give anything to hear_  
 _You say it one more time,_  
 _That the universe was made_  
 _Just to be seen by my eyes._  
\- “Saturn” by Sleeping At Last

-

To every story, there’s a resolution. Regardless in how the book ended, the events that transpired had its fill of conflicts, merriment, melancholy, suffering, and absolution. Not every story had its happy ending, but life marched on. It wasn’t the matter of the destination, but the journey that led to it.

Umbra, who vehemently remained at Ignis Scientia’s side for reasons unknown and unprecedented, had settled in a favorite space by the door, acting as a guardian of his domain. Metal tags clinked together as the master walked in the room to conclude the day. The man regarded the loyal canine with a nod. The messenger dog huffed and let out a submissive whine unlike anything the man had heard. He turned around to find a familiar presence seated at a table and reaching down to pet the approaching Umbra.

Noctis Lucis Caelum, a fine black cloak and gold chains over his shoulders, was gleefully showering Umbra with much warranted affection. The dog rolled to the side and his leg kicked vigorously, supposedly a good spot was caught almost immediately. The Savior of the Star laughed at the canine’s demands before the cobalt orbs filled with the wonders of the universe flicked to Ignis.

The man was unscathed and vibrant with life. “Hey.”

Ignis nearly dropped his cup as he stumbled towards Noctis, the man who made himself to be seen by Ignis’ eyes alone.

“I was never ready to let you go.” Ignis began as he all but collapsed in the chair, lacing his fingers around a steaming mug.

“We’re on the same boat.” Noctis concurred as he laid his chin into his palm. Umbra had curled up at the king’s feet, dozing peacefully. “I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.” He turned his head, examining the room they were in. “Guess you took Gladio’s advice about opening a restaurant.”

Ignis raised the mug to his lips and gave it a couple tentative blows, listening to the rapid ripples on its surface. “More of a coffee shop slowly being renovated into a restaurant.”

A few months ago, Gladiolus casually remarked that Ignis should make a food chain establishment and Prompto and Noctis encouraged the notion. Naturally, Ignis took pride in his culinary sixth sense but didn’t imagine that it would go anywhere beyond presenting meals to his loved ones. For ten years he was a daemon hunter under the Leide division and a part-time chef at Takka’s Pit Stop, temporary occupations until Noctis awoke from crystal stasis. Serving as advisor to the Crown and Noctis’ right hand always came first.

But Insomnia was in dire need of repair and stabilization. What remained of the Crownsguard and heresy of democracy couldn’t flourish if there was no foundation. People trickled in through the checkpoint and the ruins of what was once the jewel of Lucis, uncertain of where to continue from there, searching for work. Those who were able — men, women, even children who scouted for salvageable resources in the wreckage — pitched in. Ignis began with selling freshly brewed coffee and prepared sandwiches to the workers, making sure that everyone he ran across had plenty to eat. He soon relocated to a partially intact building. Gladiolus, Prompto, Iris, Cor, and even Aranea were his frequent customers.

“E and I, huh? Come over to the E and I for that caffeine fix.” The Chosen King mused to himself, having only seen the interior. “So, what do the initials stand for? Ergonomics and inventory?” He attempted with a wave of a hand. “Definitely two things you’d stress over.”

“Ah-ha,” the owner rolled his eyes. “Ebony & Ivory. But if I ever have a dilemma where a building required a name, I’ll be certain to refer to someone else.” Despite being rejected, it didn’t stop the king from having a huge smile on his face.

“I can barely recognize the place. It doesn’t look like the sushi joint I waited tables for.” Noctis complimented with awe before wrinkling his nose. “Can’t say I miss the fish smell though. There… was a fishy smell, right? I didn’t imagine it?”

Before its official renaming, Ebony & Ivory went through a number of changes. While it was curious that Noctis retained his sense of smell, there was a large hole in the roof, easiest method of ventilation but drastically needed to be filled. Ignis hadn’t noticed, volunteers banded together remodel the place, and he had been informed that the designs were well-done. Perhaps they were so eager to work on the restaurant because as of late, its owners have been serving even guests who couldn’t afford to pay. It made no difference, Ignis was rather impressed with the compliments and the fragrance of Ebony mingled with hints of potpourri in the air.

“It’s so strange. Even past closing and I don’t have company over, I’m still setting the table for two.”

“Expecting me?”

“Yes.” It was a force of habit that remained true to this day. Ignis caught himself thinking that he should wake Noctis from his nap and tell him supper was ready.

“Didn’t know that. But then again, you’d probably wait for me until the end of time.” He reflected as he unraveled a napkin in a way that made the advisor’s chest squeeze. It was how a young prince had done before discarding unwanted vegetables from his plate. Noctis found Ignis staring and smiled.

“Apologies.” Ignis said immediately, not absolutely certain as to what for.

“Hey, why are you saying sorry?” Noctis gave him a rueful grin. “Sorry for leaving everyone behind.”

“We were young and ignorant of what waited ahead, the trials we had to endure, and… Accepting the consequences…”

“Never looking back.” Noctis concluded, bowing his head. “We’ve walked tall through it all.”

“I wish I found a way to save you.” Ignis lamented. He and Talcott had no leads than a persistent curiosity to act upon. They visited the Lucian royal tombs and pored over ancient texts, much of it indecipherable and the strategist did the best he could in translating them when the teenager signed extinct languages in his palms. All they learned was Ardyn’s origin, a forgotten history to be consumed by dust and the passages of time. There had to be something they glossed over or a solution to… “If we had searched harder—” He slammed his fist on the table, disrupting the lone mug of Ebony. “Ten bloody years and nothing to show for it.”

“You know the song, Ignis,” Noctis’ voice was soft as he cloaked the spilled mess with the napkin. “We take what we’re given. We do what we must.”

_“We take what we’re given. We do what we must.”_ Words that Ignis expressed upon discovering Noctis seated on the throne. When their companions had remained still, the advisor had relinquished a glove and tenderly caressed the king’s face, flesh slightly warm, a beard scratched his palm, but no pulse could be detected. Blood still oozed from the deep slash in his abdomen, although the heart had ceased beating for some time. There was no comfort in hoping that he suffered very little in the end. Ignis’ chest constricted knowing that Noctis died alone. _“Good night, my brave king.”_ He said as he laid his lips upon on Chosen King’s smooth brow, a ritual he had done every night, but it would be the last.

Darkness had fell around Ignis long ago and he became greatly attuned to it and in the mastery, led others through it. He suffered to limit the sufferings of many. Ultimately, it was an ignorant ideal, he wasn’t blind to the reality that consumed him.  

Noctis was given a pyre funeral and his ashes were scattered at the places he went, Gladiolus and Prompto saw to that. Despite being nearly everywhere in Eos, flowers were laid on the restored throne, people to this day have paid their respects before the king’s final resting place. A pinch of the ashes was fashioned into a pendant that Ignis never took off, right next to the dog tags that identified him as a hunter, souvenirs that he never expected to have.

Ignis stared back, clutching the trinkets of emotional weight around his neck. The body was but a vessel, but the soul, Noctis’ soul, had the freedom to roam wherever it wished. He could hear Noctis’ voice still, and it was clear as day. The ill-fated king wasn’t here, not truly, just as he wasn’t gone. But the strategist was willing to believe they were sitting across each other right now.

Ignis had waited ten years for his dear friend and beloved to return to him only to be stolen away in less than twenty-four hours. There was a shared wish amongst the fortunate: may they dwell in Noctis’ heart evermore and may he in them. But it wasn’t fair, to have a hand in guiding Noctis towards his deathbed ever since they departed the Crown City was far more than Ignis could take. The strategist could still hear the king’s broken voice in what he intended to do and Ignis would’ve gladly died in Noctis’ place if it would preserve him. Anything but this.

Then why did Noctis depart the world with a smile on his face?

Fighting the emotion surging through his chest, Ignis leaned in toward his visitor. “If you had known this was fate from the beginning, would you still have embarked the journey?”

This time, Noctis couldn’t be flippant in his response. “You once told me that I wasn’t be alone in bearing the burden, but that’s not true. I couldn’t avoid it anymore. Not when it was looming over my head waiting for me to step up to the plate.” He swallowed. “You guys did what my old man asked. You stayed at my side and that was enough.”

Those who doubted Noctis’ culpability and comprehension didn’t know him at all. Reluctance wasn’t equivalent to refusal. He had always known what had been at stake and the consequence inevitable: the Chosen King sacrificed himself for all regardless of who fell along the path so he may survive.

Ignis found it pointless to argue with a conjured spirit or a form of Noctis manifested from a long period of yearning, both spoke volumes of the deceased’s essence. Noctis would’ve never walked away. Time to change the subject. Perhaps he should’ve offered Noctis a drink or started off with a casual conversation. But words failed him, it was unexpected.

“Not a day goes by that I don’t think of what could’ve been…”

“Yeah, me too. If it weren’t for the fact that marriage was a sore subject way back when, I’d work up the nerve to propose to you.”

Ignis’ throat tightened. “Truly?” As per his duty to the Crown, he was prepared to see Noctis wed to another and he too was prepared to marry a woman of his sire’s choice. That was before they found themselves in a precarious situation in each other’s arms. Ignis loved Noctis before he was his to cherish. They were permitted to love each other.

“Yeah. Didn’t want to get your hopes up… or mine. But I saw that kind of future with you, maybe helping you run this coffee shop slash restaurant. You get the king as your business partner and your first guy to go to for taste-testing new recipes. Talk about a steal.”

“That might be a deal breaker, dear heart. I imagined you taking creative liberties with the menu and treating your feline friends to complimentary meals behind my back.” Not that Ignis would’ve minded the latter, he’s fond of frisky felines though the sentiment was easily surmounted by Noctis’.

Noctis grinned. “Guilty as charged.”

“But…” The strategist pushed a loose chestnut curl of hair upward only for it to stubbornly fall back down. “It’s not a terrible future. It’s rather quaint and sublime.” While enamored by such a possibility, Ignis noticed that Noctis had gone silent with a ghost of a smile on his lips.

With outstretched fingers, Noctis revered his lover as he found the dark tresses behind his ear. “Have I ever told you that I like your hair like this?”

Ignis shook his head, speechless. He flinched, expecting Noctis’ hand to phase through his pompadour.

“Keep it. You know how to be stylish and it shows.”

The strategist blinked before cupping the king’s cheek and stroked flesh with his fingertips. He had never seen Noctis’ face, he bore the face of the late-King Regis but far more handsome and youthful, and yet he was the same Noctis Ignis known for almost his entire life.

Ignis had styled Noctis’ hair since the prince attended high school. It began with a simple trim from a limited expertise of hairdressing and unless it was on his own terms, Noctis despised being touched. He had been pleased with Ignis’ work that for a time, Prompto went on not knowing and wanting to visit the stylist the prince was seeing.    

When Noctis returned to the distant future of Eos, Ignis fought to reclaim some normalcy after the truth came out, snipping velvet and measuring length between his fingers. Some things never did change, the strategist had always been concerned of his king’s well-being and it went beyond the line of duty. Noctis had aged, if not more, during his crystal stasis. Ignis had mapped out worry lines, exhausted crinkles under the eyes, and a beard that wasn’t there before. Though he hadn’t cut hair in some time, Ignis wondered if Noctis fancied his appearance. Now the worry was assuaged, he was beautiful, almost too beautiful to look at.

Noctis leaned into the strategist’s palm. “You’re gonna carry that weight.” It wasn’t a question, it was a fact that both of them knew. A moment of silence rolled by until he warned, clutching his wrist, “Don’t.”

“I can’t.” Ignis’ voice cracked, not certain of whether he should or if he even knew where to begin. Life was established, but a part of him was haunted by the past.

Noctis frowned, a pensive crease in his brow. “You blame yourself, don’t you?”

“I lost you thrice.” Ignis said, simply before a pitiful chuckle escaped his lips. “Well, once, if we are discussing ultimate finalities.” If he allowed himself to forgive, it would equate to losing the person who completed him. Half of Ignis belonged to Noctis and that died when the other achieved ascension. He wouldn’t allow grief to dictate his life, but he also refused to forget.

He could remember key things about Noctis: his laugh, the way his clothes smelled, the feel of his lips on him, their last conversation… Just not his face. Blindness robbed him of what Noctis had looked like and descriptions of a thirty year old version of him proved inadequate. Ignis dedicated this moment to memorizing every detail, tracing faint beauty marks as monuments along the way. Prompto, though he would deny it every time, described Noctis as Ignis ran his fingers over the glossy photographs.

Noctis made a little frustrated sound that roused the brunette from his thoughts. “Ignis, you know that incident I had when I was eight had nothing to do with you, right? And we never did figure out what Ardyn did to the Crystal to twist it in a way that sucked me in like that. But remember, I had closer calls on the road trip.”

“I was around before your condition drastically escalated.”

“Yeah, you always had my back so thanks. But you need to give yourself a break.” Noctis lowered his hand, shrugging. “I’m still here, just not that kind of here.”

“I suppose it’s some kind of disclosed phenomenon why I can see you right now…” Such a straight-forward answer only agitated Ignis’ desire to know. He loathed ambiguities. “So if you’re here and there, what great wisdom have you to impart?”

“Live your life. Don’t worry about me.”

“What?”

“I’ll be waiting for you on the other side, for as long it’ll take. You got a good thing going on here. Live your life, live to be ninety or a hundred and ninety-nine, or something, and when I see you, I’m expecting a good story. Let me take you to an adventure after that. The world beyond can be as big as we want it.”

Ignis’ lips trembled. Surely, an imagination cannot be this cruel. “Don’t go…” he paused, swallowing grief laced with hope at the bittersweet promise as he hastily added, “where I can’t follow.”  

“I’m not going anywhere without you.” Noctis laughed. “But just so it’s easy to find you, imagine a place and hold it in your head. Go ahead, try it. Close your eyes while you’re at it, Speccy.”

“I loathe to do that when you’re here before me now…”

“Won’t take more than a couple seconds.”

After some deliberation, the strategist closed his eyes. “Would my afterlife coincide with yours?”

“Until you don’t want it to. Got it?”

Ignis squeezed his eyes tighter. “Yes.”

Ignis dwelled upon a memory when he and Noctis had went grocery shopping. The chamberlain had advised that the Crown Prince should stay indoors because of a recent snowfall and it was Ignis’ folly for failing to restock the refrigerator. The ground was frozen and snow crunched under their feet. Even as Noctis insisted on accompanying him, his cheeks flared red and he breathed over his gloved hands to keep warm. Ignis bought the Ebony cans from a vending machine to fight off the numbing cold. The cold didn’t matter any more as they stationed themselves by a park bench and watched the world go by for a while.

“Great.” Noctis commended, sounding much closer than he was before. Ignis looked up, the king was standing behind him, his eyes closed. The proprietor’s hearing didn’t pick up on this, but it didn’t matter when he was enveloped in Noctis’ arms. “I’m buying.” He murmured against Ignis’ hair, and to his ears, the promise was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Noctis was warm as that Ebony on that cold winter’s day. Ignis cupped an elbow and leaned into the embrace. The king’s sleeves were rolled up and the strategist traced a finger over the flesh, void of the ridges and scarring that came with inheriting a malevolent heirloom. Not that the scars made him love Noctis any less.  His beloved’s presence was so inherently familiar that it went without saying his heart ached for him. When had it ever stopping aching for Noctis?

“That’s good to hear.” Ignis allowed himself to say as he nuzzled into Noctis’ arm.


End file.
